Teens caught sharing child porn through WhatsApp, Telegram in Italy

Rome: Italian authorities said Saturday they have identified a group of 20 teenagers who shared child porn and dark web videos of suicides and mutilations on their cellphones.

Police said they were tipped off to the images by the mother of a 15-year-old boy in the Tuscan city of Lucca who found them on her son’s phone. Police say they discovered an “exorbitant” number of videos being exchanged via WhatsApp, Telegram and other instant messaging apps.

In addition to the porn, the postal police said in a statement that the youths also exchanged gore videos from the dark web. In Italy, the postal police investigate crimes committed via mail and web.

In all, 20 minors aged 13-17 who shared the images were identified, and police said investigations continue to find other people involved. The youths remain free pending charges of possessing and sharing child porn, as well as aggravated instigation to commit crimes.